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I have inherited two Victorian dolls. Having examined them carefully, and tried to research them, I am wondering whether head/shoulder units and ready-made lower limbs could be bought by a local seamstress, who would have used them to make up dolls to sell locally. Has anyone come across any...

My great-grandfather John Edward McMullen was a tailor on Conran Street, Manchester and in Manchester city centre, late 1800s to 1940s. His wife Jemima was a furrier and they lived in Back Irk Street. In later years the shops were taken over by his sons.
I am looking for any information on his...

I recently found a marriage certificate of my wife's ancestor Patrick Cleary who married Margaret McAuliffe in London 25 Dec 1852. The certificate shows that Patrick was a tailor, as was his father, John, and Margaret's father William McAuliffe. Since Patrick was born in Ireland, John also likely...

Filed with Frederick George Abercrombie's WW1 Service Records (WO 363):
A handwritten reference (Q & A type) from W WEBBER, Tailor, of Woodstock Street, Oxford Street, dated February 1904.
May be of use as a handwriting/signature sample.
Anc****y, ABE, page 1187

Can I check with someone that anyone wanting to become a tailor in the early 1800s would need to undergo an apprenticeship and that the parents/guardian would have to pay for the training unless the child was in the care of the parish?

Hi,
I'm new to this site and I'd love some help with my ancestors who were from somewhere in Ireland originally but lived in the Manchester area by around 1827 , then Rochdale in 1835 and then the Liverpool area from around 1838.
There are two or three generations who all appear to be 'Tailors'...

A couple of times recently I've come across the suggestion that a woman described in a census as a dressmaker or seamstress might have been using this as a euphemism, since she was involved in something much less wholesome. Is there any evidence to support this idea, please?
Arthur

I have found the websites of the Merchant Taylors' Company of London and also found information on the Merchant Taylors' of York.
Can anyone advise me whether there was a Merchant Taylors' Company of Manchester. It would seem strange if there wasn't at least a chapter of this guild in...

In the 1950,s at Baildon Yorkshire ,when i was a very young lad , i remember going to a large room ,full of bolts of cloth , with elderly ladies working on them .
The auntie who took me , told me they are mending the cloth,but to a young tyke like me ,it looked ok .
My question is .....Did...

I am told that Jack Gilbert introduced the first pleating/sewing machine into this country at his shop in Brompton Road, London. I suspect this was in the 1930s. Can anyone either confirm or dispell this family belief please? Does anyone have any information about Jack please?

Hi
I am trying to locate my great grandmother's father Frderick Watts. According to her marriage certificate my great grandmother Mary Ann Watts married on 11 Jan 1880 at St. Pancras Parish church when she was age 22. Her father Frederick Watts was then decesed. His occupation is given as...

He was my gg granduncle, born 1818, a tailor who lived with his parents. I think perhaps his wife died after bearing a couple of children. They all lived together in the village of Battle near Hastings. Father was a gardener.
He lived till the age of 80 and by that time had amassed a...

I found this entry in a 1815 directory of Manchester.
My gggrandfather was Thomas Taylor (b 1802) who was a master tailor and draper operating first from King St and then from John Dalton St in Manchester. The description in the 1816-17 directory is: tailor and habit maker as well as woollen...

Before the 1840's, and the advent of the sewing machine, army officers would have their uniforms hand tailored. But who made the 100's of 'red coats' required by the 'other ranks'?. They were not tailored to fit I'm sure - simply issued to the nearest size. Some tailor must have had a contract to...

Please could anyone tell me if there is a Tailors Guild which might hold records of master tailors circa 1800-1860? My ancestor was a merchant tailor with businesses in both London and Dublin and I would like to see if there are any details held on him.
It seems there was a strike or somesuch of...

Quite a few men of my ancestors were tailors – either ‘journeyman’ or ‘master’ tailor. I am assuming that there was some regulatory/governing body (or Guild) that assessed a tailor’s expertise and upgraded their status – from apprentice to ‘journeyman’ for example. If this is so, was there such a...